The very endangered Desert Tortoise is on the brink of extinction, and the BLM is going to close down one of the only sanctuary facilities that exists for them. They will euthanize any animals that are there when the time comes (they say SOON), and will be euthanizing any that come in as they don't have funding or space. The facility houses hundreds of tortoises. These animals are vital to their ecosystem, our ecosystem. There has to be another answer. More info here: http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/desert-tortoise-faces-threat-refuge-20060609

The possible dangers of cell phone towers are wide-reaching and numerous. Some people may only consider the issues of cell phones and driving safety, but the chronic exposure to cellular radiation may have some harmful effects as well. Moreover, many people assume that the radiation isn't that bad because cell phone towers are away from populations; the fact of the matter is that cell phone towers have been erected right in our communities, getting attached to schools, churches, firehouses, and even national parks. Health concerns related to exposure to cell towers are: • Abnormal cell growth promotion • DNA damage • Reduced immune system competence • Sleeplessness, irritability, anxiety, depression • Weakened blood-brain barrier • Childhood and adult leukemia • Eye cancer • Infertility and miscarriage • Attention span deficit and general memory loss • Sleep disturbance and chronic fatigue • Brain tumors • Cardiac problems Health effects of cell phone towers are not only restricted to humans. A study conducted by the Institute of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmacy of the Veterinary School of Hanover (Germany) found that dairy cows were affected by their proximity to cell phone tower sites. The cows had reduced milk production and increased behavioral abnormalities. When the cows were removed from the area, the strange behavior subsided after five days. Upon returning to the antenna site, the symptoms returned. So, if you live within a quarter mile of a cell phone antenna or tower, you may be at risk of serious harm to your health, according to a German study cited at www.EMF-Health.com, a site devoted to exposing hazards associated with electromagnetic frequencies (EMF) from cell phone towers and other sources. Cancer rates more than tripled among people living within 400 meters of cell phone towers or antennas, a German study found. Those within 100 meters were exposed to radiation at 100 times normal levels. An Israeli study found that the risk of cancer quadrupled among people living within 350 meters (1,148 feet) of a cell phone tower/transmitter. Both studies focused only on people who had lived at the same address for many years. Other studies have found that levels of radiation emitted from cell phone towers can damage cell tissues and DNA, causing miscarriage, suppressing immune function, and causing other health problems. Cell phones and cell phone towers have been labeled as being a “possible carcinogen". In Sweden, the government requires interventions to protect the public from EMF. Why isn’t the United States (US) government paying attention to this potential risk to public safety? Astoundingly, the US federal government does not allow rejection of a cell phone tower based on health risks. I have personally completed testing using an EMF/RF (radio frequency) meter. Internet based research advises of several other individuals who have also conducted tests and complained the measurements are above the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) limits. So when does the FCC check back on these towers and retest these sites? Several other countries have done their own research and mandated the removal of cell phone towers near schools, hospitals, and residential communities. However, the US FCC still has made no change. Even with cell phone towers meeting the current US FCC limitations people are still experiencing health issues. Yet over 1.9 million cell phone towers and antennae have been approved nationwide without any federal studies to assure safety of those living nearby. It has been fifteen (15) years that people have been asking for the FCC to reassess its RF radiation exposure limits and policies. The FCC is possibly going to consider changes to its rules regarding human exposure to RF radiation than can potentially cause several issues in animals and humans. If interested in assisting please read more at http://emrpolicy.org/news/action/index.htm. Feel free to include any of your research or simply send a comment/letter as an attachment asking for change to be made. The 150-day Reply deadline is November 1, 2013. Petition: DO NOT be pressured by major cell phone companies with deep pockets!!! We are requesting the US government (FCC) continue reassessing exposure limits and policies. Make changes to your policy to drastically lower the EMF/RF levels that cell phones and cell phone towers are allowed to output.

Most Americans are unaware of the severity of the climate change crisis because the major news sources have ignored the subject and rarely connect the dots between extreme weather events and our changing climate. We are dangerously close to the climate tipping point, when there will be nothing possible to stop the worst of climate change. Citizens must contact their elected officials and demand action, but they need honest, scientifically-accurate information in order to do that. There are solutions (i.e. carbon tax, energy conservation, renewable energy) to reduce harmful emissions. We need the media to help educate the public and our policy makers.

The Washington State Department of Fish and Game is planning to treat Badger Lake with rotenone to kill all fish in the lake and pollute the water with a dangerous chemical. This chemical has been shown to be linked to causing Parkinson's disease. New research shows a link between use of two pesticides, rotenone and paraquat, and Parkinson's disease. People who used either pesticide developed Parkinson's disease approximately 2.5 times more often than non-users. The study was a collaborative effort conducted by researchers at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), which is part of the National Institutes of Health, and the Parkinson's Institute and Clinical Center in Sunnyvale, Calif. "Rotenone directly inhibits the function of the mitochondria, the structure responsible for making energy in the cell," said Freya Kamel, Ph.D. Sign the petition to save Badger Lake and the people who depend on it's water.

Rhinebeck is America's most beautiful village, lovingly nurtured for over 300 years. With 2,800 residents it is a jewel of the Hudson Valley and the nation. Northern Dutchess Hospital has proposed a $38 million expansion which is overly large and designed to accommodate eight "for-profit" doctors offices. The addition of these "for profit" facilities will require the leveling of most of the mature trees on the hospital's front lawn and paving over the green space. It will make an eyesore of the northern gateway of the village. There are many other possible alternatives to this plan. The most respectful is to rescale the project and remove the "for profit" doctor offices. These can be located anywhere in the village. For example the north end of Springbrook (Route 9) was designated for medical facilities and now four buildings stand empty and for sale. If the hospital expansion happens as planned the northern gateway of the village will be permanently defaced. We petition the Rhinebeck Zoning Board of Appeals to reject the request for a 9 foot height variance and request a thoughtful discussion of the plans for the northern gateway of the village. Please consider attending the September 19 Zoning Board of Appeals meeting at 7:00 pm at the Village Hall to speak in opposition to the expansion. Thank you. Learn more here: http://www.save-rhinebeck-green-space.com/

The Passaic Valley Water Commission has awarded a $3.1 Million contract to an out-of-state engineering firm to draw up blueprints to drain our beautiful NJ reservoirs & replace them with gigantic concrete monstrosities in which to store our drinking water. Nowhere else in the nation has a State Legislature endorsed such a project! The NJ State Legislature must pass a regulation to require the Passaic Valley Water Commission to DELAY any and all action on this project until 2016.

TO EXPOSE THEM FOR WHAT THEY ARE, HEARTLESS SELL OUT, MONEY IS THEIR GOD!!!

The megaloads are manufactured outside the US, are shipped to the Inland Northwest, and then transported via highways through Idaho and Montana to the Alberta Tar Sands. The Alberta Tar Sands have destroyed the resources of the First Nations people of Canada. We cannot support or allow this injustice to continue. Also, our land in the US is worth protecting! Here are the top 20 reasons US Hwy 12 is worth protecting: 1. Runs through the Nez Perces' ancient homeland. 2.The Nez Perce National Historic Park is located here, including the headquarters and museum 3. Nationally designated the Northwest Passage Scenic Byway. 4. Nationally designated 1 of the nation's 27 All-American Roads. 5. Crosses and parallels for 80+ miles the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail. 6. Crosses and parallels for 80+ miles the Nez Perce National Historic Trail. 7. Runs for 70+ miles beside 2 nationally designated Wild and Scenic Rivers, the Middle Fork of the Clearwater and the Lochsa, and provides access to a 3rd, the Selway River. 8. Travels beside and provides access to the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness, one of the nation's most cherished wilderness areas. 9. National - even international - reknown of the Lochsa River for its world-class spring whitewater. 10. Named by Motorcycle Magazine as the #1 recreational motocycle route in the nation (many curves, much beauty). 11. Comprises a segment of the nationally recognized TransAmerica Bicycle Route. 12. Bisects the old growth Bernard Devoto Cedar Grove. 13. Crosses the Pacific Coast Disjunct Area, which includes rare plants for Idaho environs. 14. Lies within yards of USFS campgrounds, dispersed campsites, USFS and Nat'l Park Service interpretive sites, beaches and picnic sites. 15. Provides access to suspension bridges and dozens of trails used by hunters, fishers and wilderness trekkers and horseback riders, including access to the Idaho Bicentennial Trail and the Lochsa River Historical Trail. 16. Provides access to the Lochsa Historical Ranger Station, the McBeth House, historical churches, Big Eddy Marina at Dworshak Reservoir, and Spalding Park. 17. Runs alongside streams providing habitat of vital importance to salmon, steelhead, eel, bass and trout fisheries. 18. Runs through the wild habitats of a myriad of birds and other wildlife. 19. Runs for miles as a narrow, winding, shoulderless roadway within feet of rivers that provide domestic water supplies for 3 towns: Kamiah, Orofino and Lewiston. 20. Provides both an access route and a destination for travelers/tourists and recreationists who spend millions of dollars annually at over 150 small businesses, Lewiston to Lolo Pass, as part of the single growing industry of the corridor communities which comprise an economically depressed region of Idaho. (www.FightingGoliath.org)

The fact is that the Keystone XL project is not good for Americans, the environment, and does not add many permanent jobs. The pros just don't outweigh the cons for the American people.

Climate change is real. It is urgent. Its devastating effects are already being felt the world over, and threaten to escalate into potential catastrophe for our children and grandchildren.

Unless world leaders and top scientists focus their full attention on solving the ongoing problems at the Fukushima Nuclear Plant then life as we know it will not continue. Fukushima continues to spill radioactive waste into the Pacific Ocean and if this spill is not contained swiftly then the Pacific Ocean and everything it touches will be contaminated with radiation, which will result in the deaths of millions of people. Those of us living in the Western U.S., like myself, my family, and my friends, will lose our lives and our loved ones early as radiation sickness spreads.

Scott Walker is allowing a 22 mile-long, 1000 foot-deep strip mine to proceed in Northern Wisconsin's Penokee Hills region, which contains the headwaters of the Bad River and Lake Superior. The mine could cause asbestos dust and sulfuric acid leeching that would destroy the Bad River reservation, as well as many other downstream ecosystems. The mining company isn't earning our trust either - they've used private paramilitary groups for security, and Walker's DNR has pressured an educational camp be criminally prosecuted for studying the mine. We have a cabin nearby and grew up taking our kids to this beautiful, special, and sacred place. Please help us save it. --Betsy Bacon, Cornucopia, WI